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EMIRATES AIRLINE DUBAI 7s 2016

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SOUTH AFRICA claimed top prize in Dubai on Saturday after they beat last season's series champions and Olympic gold medallists Fiji, 26-14.

The Blitzboks, who impressed over the two days, scored early tries from Cecil Afrika and Branco du Preez to put them into an early lead, however Fijian captain Osea Kolinisau fired back to make it 14-7 at half-time.

Straight from the restart, Jerry Tuwai touched down under the posts with the conversion levelling matters at 14-14, but shortly afterwards HSBC Player of the Final Chris Dry edged South Africa ahead. That score gave his team the momentum and it was a final try from Seabelo Senatla that sealed the match, bringing his tally to 11 tries for the tournament.

Speaking afterwards, captain Philip Snyman said: "We just needed to stick to our game plan and structure and that's exactly what the guys did. We never let Fiji into the game and then they were playing catch-up rugby, which I think worked to our advantage.

"We can be positive going into our home tournament next weekend in Cape Town, but we need to start all over again and fix a few things that went wrong. We need to recover well over the next few days."  

Meanwhile, England and Wales faced off in the battle for bronze in Dubai. Speedster Dan Norton scored a remarkable four tries while Richard de Carpentier and Charlie Hayter also got on the scoreboard to complete both a 33-10 win and a positive weekend for the English.

Australia finished the day in fifth place while USA raised the men’s Challenge Trophy with a 28-14 win over Samoa, with Perry Baker’s beautiful first-half chip-and-chase try raising the noise even further at 7he Sevens Stadium.

SEMI FINALS
Fiji and England had the crowd on their feet for much of this encounter, with a thrilling first half that saw tries from England’s Ruaridh McConnochie and Dan Norton, while Setareki Bituniyata and Samisoni Viriviri touched down for Fiji. 

However, despite England’s hard work around the park, the Olympic champions hit back with a devastating second-half display with tries from Waisea Nacuqu and Masivesi Dakuwaqa helping to seal a 31-12 win and a spot in the final.

While Wales will be happy with a semi-final appearance in the first round of the series, they won’t be best pleased with their semi-final performance. Starved of possession in the first half, they could only watch as the unstoppable Senatla scored a first-half hat-trick. Werner Kok and Justin Geduld added to the tally, with Ethan Davies scoring Wales' only try, as it finished 36-5 to South Africa.

QUARTER FINALS
The first quarter-final on Saturday saw France face a Fiji team that went unbeaten on day one and while France tried, they were no match for a team that can offload from any position.

Sevuloni Mocenacagi’s try early in the second half was an example of sevens at it's very best as the game finished 40-5, with Sacha Valleau getting the only try for France.

The clash of England and Scotland in the second quarter-final lived up to the hype. A physical England got stuck into the Scots in the early stages, with Dan Bibby and Dan Norton combining very well for their second try of the match.

But true to form, Scotland mounted a fight-back that left the game poised at 21-19 in their favour, after England’s Tom Mitchell scored with just seconds left. With the clock in the red, Scotland were awarded a penalty but, with a new law that means teams must form a lineout if they kick directly to touch from a penalty awarded in overtime, the Scots were forced to halt celebrations. Scotland lost the resulting lineout and England punished them when Ruaridh McConnochie scored in the corner to give England a 24-21 win and a spot in the semis.

Australia and Wales picked up where the previous sides left off, delivering another classic for the crowd in the Dubai desert. Two second-half tries, one at the start and one at the end of the match, from Morgan Williams sealed a fantastic victory for Wales over Australia, 21-12.

The last quarter-final promised much but delivered little from a New Zealand point of view, as they went down 40-0 to the Blitzboks. Cecil Afrika cut through the Kiwi defence for the opening score before Seabalo Senatla touched down for his seventh try in Dubai. Kyle Brown, Chris Dry, Justin Geduld and Werner Kok also scored during the emphatic victory.

 

 

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REIGNING HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series champions and Olympic gold medallists Fiji were one of four teams to maintain a 100 per cent win record on day one of the Dubai Sevens and march into the Cup quarter-finals.

POOL A
1 2 3 4

The Pacific islanders took a major step towards retaining their Dubai Sevens title with three wins in Pool A over Wales, Argentina and Canada, providing some thrilling rugby at the opening round of the world series.

They will face France in the final eight and will be joined by three other unbeaten sides from day one as South Africa, England and Australia all shone bright in the Dubai sun.

"We're happy with how we performed but we knew it was going to be tough," said Fiji captain Osea Kolinisau. "We got three wins in the bag, and a win is a win. We learned a lot from the first three games.

"Against Argentina we knew they were going to throw the kitchen sink at us because they had lost to Wales. I am proud of the way the boys were resilient. We were down twice and had two yellow cards, but the boys came back so it's testament to them."

POOL B
1 2 3 4

South Africa, series runners-up for four years in a row, put their stamp on Pool B with victories over Scotland, USA and Uganda. World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year Seabelo Senatla showed his quality with six tries on day one, two more than any other player. The Blitzboks will play New Zealand in the Cup quarter-finals, a side they lost to twice in finals during their 2015-16 campaign in both Wellington and Vancouver.

POOL C
1 2 3 4

England, runners-up last year in Dubai, produced a dominant display against the All Blacks Sevens in Pool C to add to their earlier victories against Samoa and Russia. They will face Calum Macrae's Scotland side on day two.

POOL D
1 2 3 4

In Pool D a new-look Australia, under the captaincy of Sam Myers, notched up three wins against Japan, France and Kenya. Head coach Andy Friend's side will play Wales in their Cup quarter-final.

 

 

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POOL A

POOL B

POOL C

POOL D

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FRIDAY 2nd DECEMBER
1	09:00	KENYA		14-24		FRANCE	POOL D
2	09:22	AUSTRALIA		19-14		JAPAN	POOL D
3	09:44	USA		5-14		SCOTLAND	POOL B
4	10:06	SOUTH AFRICA		46-0		UGANDA	POOL B
5	10:30	ARGENTINA		19-21		WALES	POOL A
6	10:52	FIJI		26-19		CANADA	POOL A
7	11:14	ENGLAND		19-7		SAMOA	POOL B
8	11:36	NEW ZEALAND		26-5		RUSSIA	POOL B
9	12:00	KENYA		17-7		JAPAN	POOL D
10	12:22	AUSTRALIA		28-0		FRANCE	POOL D
11	12:44	USA		29-7		UGANDA	POOL B
12	13:06	SOUTH AFRICA		21-5		SCOTLAND	POOL B
13	14:14	ARGENTINA		21-14		CANADA	POOL A
14	14:36	FIJI		24-12		WALES	POOL A
15	14:58	ENGLAND		38-7		RUSSIA	POOL B
16	15:20	NEW ZEALAND		26-21		SAMOA	POOL B
17	18:00	FRANCE		35-0		JAPAN	POOL D
18	18:22	AUSTRALIA		17-12		KENYA	POOL D
19	18:44	SCOTLAND		35-14		UGANDA	POOL B
20	19:06	SOUTH AFRICA		19-17		USA	POOL B
21	19:31	WALES		31-5		CANADA	POOL A
22	19:53	FIJI		22-19		ARGENTINA	POOL A
23	20:15	SAMOA		17-15		RUSSIA	POOL B
24	20:37	NEW ZEALAND		12-26		ENGLAND	POOL B

SATURDAY 3rd DECEMBER
25	09:30	ARGENTINA		31-14		JAPAN	BOWL QF
26	09:52	SAMOA		27-19		UGANDA	BOWL QF
27	10:14	KENYA		22-14		CANADA	BOWL QF
28	10:36	USA		40-0		RUSSIA	BOWL QF
29	11:00	FIJI		40-5		FRANCE	CUP QF
30	11:22	ENGLAND		24-21		SCOTLAND	CUP QF
31	11:44	AUSTRALIA		12-21		WALES	CUP QF
32	12:06	SOUTH AFRICA		40-0		NEW ZEALAND	CUP QF
33	13:38	JAPAN		19-26		UGANDA	SHIELD SF
34	14:00	CANADA		27-5		RUSSIA	SHIELD SF
35	14:22	ARGENTINA		10-12		SAMOA	BOWL SF
36	14:44	KENYA		19-21		USA	BOWL SF
37	15:57	FRANCE		17-26		SCOTLAND	PLATE SF
38	16:19	AUSTRALIA		20-12		NEW ZEALAND	PLATE SF
39	16:41	FIJI		31-12		ENGLAND	CUP SF
40	17:03	WALES		5-36		SOUTH AFRICA	CUP SF
41	17:57	UGANDA		17-20		CANADA	SHIELD FINAL
42	18:19	SAMOA		14-28		USA	BOWL FINAL
43	18:44	SCOTLAND		12-19		AUSTRALIA	PLATE FINAL
44	19:08	ENGLAND		38-10		WALES	BRONZE
45	19:33	FIJI		14-26		SOUTH AFRICA	CUP FINAL

 

 

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OLYMPIC gold medal winners and 2015-16 series champions Fiji begin their HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2016-17 men's campaign against Canada, following the announcement of the full match schedule for the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens.

Fiji have a new coaching set-up following the departure of Ben Ryan but as the reigning Dubai, series and Olympic champions they will start as firm favourites. The islanders also play Wales and Argentina in Pool A on the first day of the men's season on 2 December 2016.

Last season's second-ranked side South Africa, bronze medallists at the Olympics, start against African qualifier Uganda with further matches against last season's London champions Scotland and the USA.

For the first time in the 17-year history of the series, New Zealand will start a season without long-time coach, Sir Gordon Tietjens. Twelve-time series winner Tietjens retired after the Olympic Games, having served in the role for 22 years and motivation will be high for the All Blacks Sevens after a disappointing Rio campaign. They will start their Dubai challenge against Russia with further matches against Samoa, also under new management, and England, whose coach Simon Amor and captain Tom Mitchell guided Team GB to an Olympic silver medal.

Australia's men head the fourth of the pools and start their season against newly-promoted Japan, who finished an impressive fourth in Rio following a famous pool victory over New Zealand. Singapore champions Kenya and France also lie in wait.

Excitement is building in Dubai as the new HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series gets set for kick-off.

The 16 men's and 12 women's captains gathered in Dubai on Wednesday to officially launch the competition, which begins for the women's teams on Thursday and the following day for the men.

Off the back of a hugely successful Olympic Games in Rio, which saw rugby gain more than 16 million new fans, the teams are preparing for a new Olympic cycle that will set them on course for Tokyo 2020.

Fiji's Olympic gold medal-winning captain Osea Kolinisau said their achievement has made a massive difference: "It has been life-changing. You get asked for a lot more photos and you get invited to all sorts of places to try and inspire children. But life is all about changes, and now we start with the new series and we have to readjust, starting here in Dubai."

Players also got to grips with the new HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series mobile App which was launched ahead of the new season.

Covering both the men's and women's series, the App will keep new and existing rugby sevens fans up to date with all the action from the 16 tournaments, 10 men's and six women's, in the 2016-17 season.

World Rugby also announced that the upcoming series will see Hawk-Eye replay technology used for head injury assessments (HIAs) and judicial decisions during matches at all rounds of the men's and women's series.

In a move that will further enhance player welfare, Hawk-Eye, which was used successfully at Rugby World Cup 2015, will allow medics to review any suspected head injuries in real time with different angles.

 

 

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